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Prohibition Dbq Essay

810 Words4 Pages

Al Capone said, “Prohibition has made nothing but trouble.” Al Capone was a famous bootlegger during the Prohibition Era and he is right; prohibition did cause trouble. The Prohibition Era was the time from 1920 to 1933 in which consuming, producing, or possessing alcohol over 1% was illegal in America. Prohibition and the Volstead Act was meant to decrease crime, boost economic growth, and aid America as a whole. America was hoping to solve all of its problem by eliminating liquor, when in reality it caused more. It decreased production, increased crime, and was practically impossible to enforce. Prohibition was primarily insignificant, but, why did America take the time to eradicate the amendment?
First, Prohibition caused the United States …show more content…

There were thousands of bootleggers, but only 3,000 to 3,500 enforcement agents to stop prohibition (Doc C). How can only a few thousand people combat the illegal actions of millions? Often, moonshiners weren’t caught. One moonshining operation ran for months with a hole connecting them to a police station (Doc C). The police could probably smell the alcohol and possibly catch the criminals, yet they didn’t. Why have a law that is not punishable?There was also no deference for the law. Moonshiners didn’t take any head from the amendment, and didn’t care about it (Doc H). They seemed to walk all over it, not caring about the consequences. Furthermore, even Congressmen and Senators broke the 18th Amendment (Doc D). Mabel Walker Willebrandt, a Deputy for the U.S. Attorney General for Prohibition Enforcement during the Prohibition Era, said that the leaders of the country would drink alcohol and not be punished (Doc D). It is not right when the lawmakers become the lawbreakers. They cannot then expect millions of people to happily oblige to follow the law if they themselves do not. It is unjust and hypocritical. Breaking the amendment they themselves created just granted others the opportunity to do the

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